Unlike a lot of Saturday morning fare, the Rugrats television show also holds a certain amount of entertainment value for parents as well as their kids–a fact that has been carried over to the series’ feature adaptation, especially in this second (and superior) big-screen jaunt for the precocious pre-preschoolers. For the DVD edition, Paramount has attempted the same type of balance, but with mixed results.
A commentary would more than likely be a killjoy for a film like Rugrats in Paris, so one was wisely not done. There is, however, a 20-minute making-of featurette, but it’s one of those half-insightful, half-hype promo jobs that aired on television during the film’s theatrical release. The trailer will only be of interest to the adults, of course, as will the dryly humorous pair of TV spots that are also included. More interesting is a small feature that gives the option of viewing a selected scene with sound effects only, but it’s too brief to be all that satisfying for adult animation buffs.
But let’s face it–most people will buy the DVD for their children, and kids will likely get more out of that sound effects bit and the disc in general. The lively animated menus were obviously designed with the wee ones in mind; ditto the two DVD-ROM games. Adults may get a chuckle out of the two alternate endings, which spell out the ultimate fate of villainess Coco (voiced by Susan Sarandon), but, again, the humor is pitched toward the tots, who are surely the ones who’ll be singing along to the last (and definitely least) extra, the video for Baha Men’s grossly overplayed hit “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
Specifications: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen; English 5.1 Surround; English and French Dolby Surround; English subtitles; English closed captioning; DVD-ROM features.
